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E315: Course Topics and Readings (also see B-Board Announcements)
1. The American Religious Landscape: Basic facts, figures, and trends
- Religious trends, regional patterns, demographic patterns, religion & politics, etc.
- Basic facts about America religion.
- Challenges to traditional secularization theory.
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HW: “Religion in America” Survey
HW: Religious biographical sketch
2. The Economic (& Sociological) Approaches:
- Defining the economic/rational choice approach.
- Appreciating its scope, limitations, and critiques.
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Reading: "Rational Choice: Framework for the Scientific Study of Religion"
HW: "Intro to the Econ of Religion: Key Econ Concepts and Applications".
3. American Congregations and Denominations
- Contemporary religious practice
- Congregational life
- The spectrum of Protestant denominations in America
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Readings: Extraordinary Groups: Chapters on the Amish, Mormons, Hasidim, and JW’s.
HW: Worksheets on “Costs and Benefits of [specific] Religions”
Mid-course HW Project: Congregational Observation #1 (Christian or Jewish)
End-course HW Project: Congregational Observation #2 (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.)
4. Economics of the Supernatural: Religion, Magic & Science
- Economics as a truly general approach to religion.
- Defining religion, magic, and the supernatural.
- Magic versus religion, and the difficulties facing magical faiths and firms.
- Extended applications:
- Joseph Smith and early Mormonism
- Science and secularization.
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Reading: “The Economics of the Supernatural” (chap 3 in Iannaccone’s MS)
HW: Religion vs. Magic
5. The Demand for Religious Participation
- Theory: The general determinants of demand.
- The opportunity cost of attendance, with special emphasis on the value of time.
- Substitutes, complements, long-run trends and their challenges for churches.
- Applications: Catholicism pre/post-Vatican II, mainline Protestant trends & troubles, youth groups
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Reading: “Getting Involved: The Demand for Religious Participation” (chap 5 in my MS)
6. Time and Money: Modeling Religion as a Form of Production
- Theory: Modeling religious activity as a form of production involving time, money, and capital.
- Applications: Attendance; substitution between time and money, attendance versus contributions; the
pressure to professionalize.
- Example: Time-saving trends and innovations in American Judaism.
- Why contributions are strongly skewed, and how skewness influences congregations.
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Reading: “Time and Money” (chap 6 in my MS)
HW: Skewness Exercise
7. Commitment and Conversion: Causes and Consequences of Religious Capital
- Experience effects, commitment, and religious human capital.
- The impact of upbringing.
- Application: Conversion and denominational mobility – timing, rates, and patterns.
- Religious practice as a beneficial habit.
- Application: Religiosity and age.
- Religion as a jointly produced household commodity.
- Application: Religious intermarriage and religious participation.
- Data on attendance, intermarriage, religiosity, and divorce.
- Agent-Based models of conversion
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Reading: “Commitment and Conversion” (chap 7 in my MS)
Reading: :Accidental Atheists”? (the “MARS” Multi-Agent Religious Simulation)
8. Modeling Religious Groups:
* Theory and Models:
- Religious groups as units of collective production (aka, “clubs”)
- Free-rider problems in theory and practice.
- Sacrifice and stigma: How seemingly inefficient demands can increase participation & reduce free riding
- General conclusions regarding the good and bad features of strict/costly religions
- Dealing with religious risk: Collective (club/exclusive) versus private (portfolio/inclusive) styles of religion.
* Extended applications:
- The strength and success of “strict” groups.
- The church-sect spectrum
- Modeling denominational growth.
- Rational choice vs. "brainwashing" interpretations of "cult" conversion
- Suicide bombing and contemporary Islamic extremism.
- Contrasting approaches: Judeo-Christian vs pagan; mainstream vs new age; and Asian vs Western.
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Reading: Stark and Bainbridge, "The Spectrum of Faiths".
PowerPoint Lecture: “Strictness, Strength, and Spiritual Capital”
Reading: “Why Strict Churches are Strong”
HW: Analyzing the strict church game
Re-Reading: “Accidental Atheists?” (the “MARS” Multi-Agent Religious Simulation)
Reading: “A Formal Model of Church and Sect”
HW: Questions on Church and Sect, plus Church-Sect XLS template.
Reading: “Risk, Rationality, and Religious Portfolios”
Reading: “The Market for Martyrs”
9. Religious Markets: Competition, Regulation, and Monopoly
- Competing faiths, religious pluralism, and the lessons of market competition.
- Supply versus Demand: The competing interests of clergy and church-goers.
- Religious monopoly and the impact of established churches.
- Policy implications for church-state relations and religious regulation.
- Religion and Gender
- Application: Cross-cultural variation in religiosity.
- Application: Major factors influencing the way in which religion finance themselves.
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Reading: “Deregulating Religion: The Economics of Church and State”
Reading: Funding the Faiths
Reading: "Physiology and Faith: Gender Difference in Religious Commitment"
Reading: “The Role of Women in [Early Church] Christian Growth”
Reading: The Future of Religion
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X. Special Topic: Learning from Deirdre McCloskey
- Q & A regarding Deirdre’s personal history and scholarly contributions
- Deirdre’s lecture on the (indispensable) role of religion & ethics in “the Great Enrichment”
- Deirdre and Larry’s discussion/debate on “Is Religion Rational?”
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Reading: “The Lives of Deirdre McCloskey”
Reading: “Not Institutions, but Ethics & Religion”
Reading: McCloskey’s essay in “Symposium on the Economics of Religion”
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PART I: Multiple choice questions
(Circle and enter on Scantron.)
Trends and Patterns in Contemporary American Religion ...
1.
a.
National surveys show that, over the past generation, the prevalence of ...
both atheism and "no religion" have increased dramatically
b. atheism has increased a little, but "no religion" has increased dramatically
C both atheism and "no religion" have remained about the same.
d. both atheism and "no religion" have decreased
2.
a.
Generally speaking,
women are more religious than men
b. older people are more religious than young adults.
Black Americans are more religious than White Americans.
d. religiosity correlates very weakly with levels of income
e. all of the above.
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C.
3.
a.
About 15% of Americans describe themselves as having "no religion.” Most of these people ....
are members of non-Christian religions.
b. are atheists.
C. are people who are attending church for the sake of their husbands, wives, or children.
d. are a combination of atheists and people who have religious beliefs but don't belong to any
particular religious group.
e.
none of the above.
and politically
4. Contemporary Evangelical Protestants tend to be theologically
a. conservative/conservative.
b. conservative/liberal.
C. liberal/conservative.
d. conservative/mixed liberal and conservative.
e. liberal/liberal.
and politically
5. Contemporary Black Protestants tend to be theologically
a. conservative/conservative
conservative/liberal
C. liberal/conservative
d. conservative/mixed liberal and conservative
e. liberal/liberal
Oo
6. Unitarians tend to be theologically and politically.
a. conservative/conservative
b. conservative/liberal
C. liberal/conservative
d. conservative/mixed liberal and conservative
e. liberal/liberal
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a.
b.
7 Compared to most other developed Western nations, the American "religious marketplace" is
exceptionally diverse.
True since the early 1900s, but false in the 1800s.
False since the early-1900s, but true in the 1800s.
c. True, going all the way back to the early-1800s.
d. False, going all the way back to the early-1800s.
8. Compared to most other developed Western nations, Americans are exceptionally religious.
True since the early 1900s, but false in the 1800s.
False since the early 1900s, but true in the 1800s.
C. True, going all the way back to the early-1800s.
d.
False, going all the way back to the early-1800s.
9. Since the early-1800s, the total number of different Christian denominations in the U.S. has ...
a. Remained about the same.
b. Increased until late-1800s and then decreased.
C.
Decreased until late-1800s and then increased.
d. Increased throughout almost the entire era
e. Increased throughout almost the entire era
a.
b
Religion, Magic, and Science ...
10. Supernatural beings are more typical of:
magic
b. religion
science
a.
C.
a.
11. Supernatural forces are more typical of:
magic
b. religion
C. science
12. Practitioners who demand or compel are more typical of:
magic
b. religion
a.
13. Practitioners who ask or plead are more typical of:
a. magic
b. religion
and
14. Moralistic perspectives are more typical of:
a. magic
b. religion
15. Fee-for-service activities are more typical of:
a. magic
b. religion
16. Here and now orientations are more typical of:
a. magic
b. religion
17. Afterlife rewards are more typical of:
a. magic
b. religion
TF High-tension groups tend to have higher rates of belief and attendance.
TF The Jehovah's Witnesses are a "high-tension" denomination
T F Although "tension" is an important theoretical concept for the social-scientific study of
religion, in practice it's nearly impossible to measure.
According to Deirdre McCloskey ...
-o. T F
Throughout nearly all of human history, average levels of material remained trapped at
subsistence levels.
TF
71.
TF
72.
The "Great Enrichment" arose when and where it did because no other era, culture, or
region developed the technologies needed to sustain rapid economic development
The “Great Enrichment” arose when and where it did because no ther era, culture, or
region developed the institutions needed to sustain rapid economic development
The “Great Enrichment" arose when and where it did because no other era, culture, or
region developed the ideas needed to sustain rapid economic development
Religious ideas played a key role in creating and sustaining the "Great Enrichment
The Protestant doctrine of predestination, played a key role in creating and sustaining the
"Great Enrichment".
TF
73.
TF
74.
T F
75.
77.(10 points) In the "Accidental Atheists" agent-based model of religious
mobility...
a) Describe how the "agents" in model differ one from another. (Be precise!)
Warning: Restrict yourself to specific features of the formal simulation model. Do NOT talk about more
general ways in which people differ in the real world.
b) Describe the type of choices that each agent makes. (Be precise! Same warning applies.)
c) Describe the rules that govern each agent's choices. (Be precise! Same warning applies.)
d) Describe the model's main result. (No need to explain or justify it, just state the result.)
e) What single change in agent behavior helps most to insure the survival of a small group?
78.(10 points) Consider the following scenario for Church X:
Assumption 1: 1/4 the households attending church X contribute 0% of their income to the church,
1/4 contribute 1%, 1/4 contribute 2%, and 1/4 contribute 3%
Assumption 2: 1/4 of the households earn $100,000/yr, 1/4 earn $200,000/yr, 1/4 earn $300,000/yr,
and the remaining 1/4 earn $400,000/yr.
Assumption 3: Among these households, percentage rates of giving are unrelated to income.
a. Based on these assumptions, calculate the share of members who will give each amount, and
summarize the giving distribution with a table. (Warning: You may not need all the rows & columns!)
b. Based on your data from (a) graph the overall distribution of contributions. (Warning: You may not
need all the rows & columns!)
c. Evaluate the following statements concerning contributions to Church X. (Just circle/no ScanTron)
T F
T F
T F
a) The distribution above is skewed.
b) The mean (average) household contribution is greater than the median household
contribution
c) If all the highest-earning households made $500,000/yr rather than $400,000, the
distribution would be more skewed.
d) If rates of giving were negatively correlated with household income instead of being
uncorrelated), the distribution would become less skewed.
T F